Potters: Five Against One
by Kila9Nishika
Summary: Harry is gone, but his family lives on in Ginny and her five children - James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and Minerva. Just how crazy is life with five little Marauders and no husband to lean on? *Reference to character death and rated for mild language.*


**Disclaimer:** As I am a simple person who does not own tons and tons of money, I must admit to being a plain American girl, and not JK Rowling. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter and the connected involved characters. Oh, well...

**AN:** This is an "interquel" to "He Lives On in Love." As with the aforementioned, it sticks to the first five Canon books, and veers away afterward. Enjoy!

* * *

**Potters – Five Against One**

Ginny rubbed her eyes and fell into her bed with a sigh. She hadn't realized how insanely tiring five kids could be. She was _never_ going to poke fun at her mum again. Standing up, she walked over to her floor-length mirror.

She was wearing a white nightgown that distinctly resembled the one she'd worn on her honeymoon with Harry. Her hair was loose, and a bit longer than it had been then. She had a few more lines on her face, courtesy of five children who were all eighteen months old.

Ginny smiled at her reflection, and pulled a small locket out from under her nightgown. Opening it, she projected an illusion of Harry next her, just for a moment.

"I miss you," she whispered. Harry had taught her wandless magic, Harry had taught her half of the magic she knew in the first place, Harry had saved her life more times than she could count, Harry had shown her the true meaning of the power of love, and Harry –

Was dead.

Biting back tears, Ginny pulled out her journal, and scribbled down some of her feelings on the ever-growing love letter. Nobody would ever see it, if she had her way. It would be buried with her, when she died.

Flinging herself back onto her bed, Ginny smiled when she thought of the next day. For now, everything was quiet. Hopefully, the Five Little Potter-Monsters would be cooperative tomorrow. She was going to take them to The Burrow. Tomorrow was Christmas, and it would be her children's first _real_ Christmas.

"Please work out," she mumbled, falling asleep. "Please, let there be no more accidental magic and no more crazy disasters and let me _somehow_ get through another day with them."

* * *

The next morning began crazy and got steadily worse. Unfortunately for Ginny, James and Sirius decided that the day needed to begin at six o'clock in the morning, and demonstrated the fact by Levitating out of their cribs and jumping on their exhausted mother.

Ginny got up as fast as she could, and barely scraped by with a shower before the door opened, and Lily tumbled in, her face red as she shouted in a language half-English, half-babytalk. At that point, Minerva and Remus finally woke up, and began to cry at the same time.

Swearing under her breath and hating herself for it, Ginny struggled into a semblance of real clothing, and set breakfast to cooking. Rounding up the group of them with a Lassoing Charm, Ginny fought to get clothing on all of them. As ended up happening on days when Ginny hadn't gotten enough sleep, she got Minnie, Remus, and Lily dressed, and then used the Full-Body-Bind Charm on James and Sirius. She just hoped that it wouldn't traumatize them. She loved them so much, but…

Suddenly struck with an idea of how to get some extra sleep; Ginny slipped some Sleeping Potion into the breakfast food and waited. James, as usual, ate the most, and fell asleep first. Sirius fell asleep a moment later, his head falling into his oatmeal. Lily stayed awake long enough to push away her bowl before she stretched and yawned, pillowing her head on her tiny hands. Minnie looked at Remus, and they both leaned slowly towards the table at the same time, mirroring each other's movements. Sticking their thumbs into their mouths, the quietest of the Five Little Potter-Monsters fell asleep.

After making herself some toast and eggs, Ginny collapsed on the couch, and was soon fast asleep.

She woke to giggling. Cracking one eye open, she saw something that made her heart leap into her throat. James and Sirius were floating in the air, throwing a glass at each other. Whenever it fell towards the floor, Remus or Lily would dart forward and catch it. Minnie watched with as disapproving of an air as an eighteen month old can have. Ginny's breath caught when the glass finally hit the floor and broke, but Minnie just toddled forward and waved her hand over the glass like Ginny did when she was Repairing something without her wand.

Ginny sat up. Her kids were intentionally doing wandless magic! The possibilities of teaching them before they even went to Hogwarts whirled through her head. "Oh, Harry!" she breathed. "We have such wonderful children."

At that moment, Remus turned around and saw her sitting up. "Mummy!" he shouted, floating over to her and settling himself in her lap.

At the sound of Remus' voice, all of the others turned and saw that Ginny was, indeed awake. James' brown eyes widened. "Remy got Mummy!" he cried, flying over to join Ginny and Remus on the couch. "Jemmy get Mummy too."

Ginny laughed as James' words triggered a chorus of "Lily get Mummy!" "Minnie get Mummy!" "Siri get Mummy!" It was sweet, especially when they all sat in her lap and gave her a hug.

* * *

Some time later, Ginny rounded them all up again and dragged them over to the fireplace. After snagging the presents that had been carefully hidden, Ginny tossed Floo Powder into the fireplace, and grabbed each kid. "The Burrow!"

Tumbling out of the fireplace, Ginny let go of the kids to keep herself from hitting the floor. Ignoring what sounded like a laugh from one of her brothers, she did a Body-Bind on the entire room, and did a head count. Sighing with relief when she counted five, Ginny released the Body-Bind, the signal for James, Sirius, and Lily to run from the room shouting at the top of their lungs.

Looking up, she saw Hermione smiling at her sympathetically. "Are you alright, Ginny?" she asked. "You look exhausted."

Ginny rubbed her head. "I'm fine, I think. But I know what I want for a Christmas present!"

Mrs. Weasley entered the room with a cup of coffee for Ginny. "What do you want, dear?"

Ginny sighed. "For someone to take care of the Five Little Potter-Monsters for a day, for me. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a while!"

Mrs. Weasley frowned. "Perhaps we should have – say, one or two days a week that your father and I watch your kids for a full twenty-four hours, so you can get some rest. Does that sound good?"

Ginny jumped up and hugged her mother. "That's wonderful, Mum. I've been so tired, lately. And I still miss him, I miss him so much…" her voice trailed off.

Hermione stifled a laugh. Ginny had fallen asleep standing up. Flicking her wand – she never had mastered wandless magic – she Levitated Ginny to the couch, where the redhead curled up and mumbled "Harry."

Hermione sighed. "She's a year younger than me, and I'm not sure I  
could handle _one_ of those kids. Well, maybe Remus or Minnie, but James or Sirius? How does she do it?"

Mrs. Weasley patted her hand with a smile. "She's a Weasley, Hermione. And a Prewett. And, in her eyes, most importantly a Potter. That gives her strength. I do wish she would live here, though, but she insists on living in Godric's Hollow, in Harry's memory."

While Mrs. Weasley and Hermione continued to speak softly, people walked in and out of the room quietly, letting Ginny sleep. Unfortunately, her nap was not to last.

Ginny woke to the sound of an explosion. For a moment, she thought she was fifteen again. "G'way Fred, George."

"GINNY!"

The shout knocked her awake. Memories hit Ginny like a wave, memories of the first time someone had shouted her name like that.

"_Ginny!" Her eyes opened just enough to see a pale face with green eyes and black hair, and the world faded away. _

"_She won't wake."_

A bang drew her back into the present. Drawing her wand, Ginny was too slow to stop a red jet of light from hitting Hermione. Swinging to face the Death Eater – there were Death Eaters, what were they doing here? Voldemort's dead! – She slashed her wand in a slicing motion, silently incanting.

Slowly returning to her old fighting grace, Ginny found herself dancing the dance of battle, spells spilling from her wand like water. She stopped and slipped behind a chair long enough to do a head count. Eleven Death Eaters were down, six were still attacking.

"Get the redhead girl and go!" shouted the shortest of the Death Eaters. One of the Death Eaters shot a Reducto at Ginny's wand, which she dropped, darting out of the way. Rolling and jumping to her feet, Ginny called up her power, her hands palm-out.

"STUPEFY!"

Red light exploded around her, and the Death Eaters fell like dominoes. Swaying on her feet, Ginny fell to her knees and crawled over to the nearest Death Eater. He had a Portkey in his hand, already triggered.

Ginny closed her hands around the Portkey, and blacked out as it dragged her away.

* * *

Still on the edges of unconsciousness, Ginny heard a male voice that she knew better than her own.

"_We should help! How can we help her? Oh, Gin, if only I could help you!"_

"_Sh, Harry, she'll be alright. Adult can't see us, but children can. Your children have been learning well from Sirius and James, they'll be alright."_

"_But they're only _ONE YEAR OLD_!"_

"_Sh, she's waking up now. Luck, Ginny."_

"_I love you, my Ginny."_

Ginny opened her eyes to a chorus of "Mummy!" James, Sirius, and Lily were chained to a wall, and Remus and Minnie were lying on the ground, limp as if they were asleep, but their eyes were open.

Jumping to her feet, she dashed over to them. "Ohmigod what have they done to you?"

Remus looked up at her with a sneaky smile on his face, and reached up with on little hand, touching her cheek. She almost started in shock when he whispered "_Ostendo sum Legilimens._"

Colors swept over her vision for a moment, and then thoughts rushed into her mind with clear definition:

_All five of them were grabbed and Portkeyed away._

_James, Sirius, and Lily fighting, flashes of light surging from their little bodies, their baby-faces masks of concentration. _

_Remus and Minnie forming a plan; sending it mentally to their siblings, who were fighting._

_Remus and Minnie, pretending to be hit by a Stunner._

_James, Sirius, and Lily, one by one, allowing themselves to be caught._

_Their plan._

Ginny opened her eyes in shock. "Did I know my kids could do that?" she breathed. If this was because of Harry's magical strength passed on, she was just glad that they hadn't used it to convince her that bedtime was midnight.

Remus smiled, this time a genuine, loving smile. "The glowy lady Mummy's hair taught us, and the funny man who's a doggie. Sometimes the skinny man with sticky-up hair and daddy-glasses."

Ginny swallowed a lump in throat at the idea that her kids thought that Harry's style glasses were daddy-glasses. After all, they had only ever seen Harry in photographs.

Before she could think any further, a blaze of red light filled the room. Ginny dropped to the ground; she did an "imitation stunned" quite well. It _was_ something that Harry had taught her, back at Hogwarts.

To her shock, Lucius and Draco Malfoy swept into the room, followed by a cadre of fully-dolled-up Death Eaters.

Lucius took one look around the room, and laughed. "Well done, Draco! The entire Potter family, in one batch! Well, shall we send them off to meet their father?"

Draco gave a laugh that promised to sound as bad as his father's laugh. "Let's play, first. The babies will scream marvelously, and I've always wanted to see the Weasely bitch bare."

A hiss of anger broke the silence in-between Draco's words and Lucius' answer. Heads turned, to see a furious Remus, standing with his hands fisted at his sides. Ginny held back tears, Remus looked like a miniature of his father, minus glasses and scar.

"You _never_ insult Mummy!" he shouted. "Never, never, never, never, _NEVER!_" Light exploded from his body, and roiled over the chains that held his siblings to the wall. James and Sirius floated from the floor easily, Levitating like they were born to it. Lily and Minerva stood beside Remus, their hands fisted at their sides as well.

Lucius laughed, and cast a Body-Bind on Ginny. "The babes protect their mother, Draco. Shall you do the honors, or shall I?"

Draco _giggled_ – it was the only way to describe the noise that escaped his mouth – and raised his wand. "_Crucio_." Red light slammed into James and Sirius, who screamed.

James opened his eyes as wide as they would go, and grabbed Sirius' hand. Together, they gasped out a word that sounded like, "_Pontus Poena!_"

Remus clasped hands with Lily and Minnie, who closed their eyes. Minnie and Lily shook for a moment, and Remus repeated the phrase. "_Pontus Poena!_" Light rocketed from his eyes, and slammed into Malfoy Sr.

Draco, making a squeaking noise, Apparated away, followed by several of the Death Eaters closest to Ginny and the toddlers. Before Ginny could shake off the Body-Bind, Remus sagged, and fell to the ground, followed by James and Sirius. Lily and Minnie released Remus gently, and clasped hands, grinning. "My turn!" they chorused.

Stepping forward together, the little girls swept their gaze around the room. "_Dico Sursum Justicia!_"

Blue light enveloped the small girls, and billowed outwards like a cloud. Sweeping over every person left in the room, it enveloped each person in their own, individual case of light. Lucius Malfoy began to scream in agony, and several other Death Eaters echoed his vocal complaints. Ginny simply felt a wave of warmth, and saw a face that she loved for a brief moment.

"Harry?" she whispered hoarsely. The face smiled crookedly, and the green eyes that she loved filled with reciprocated love.

"Love you, Gin." The voice sounded like it came from the end of a long tunnel, and Ginny burst into tears. "I love you, Harry! I love you! I love…" She blacked out.

Ginny woke to shouts and childish shrieks of laughter. Opening her eyes, she sat up and looked around. She was at The Burrow, on the couch, and her kids were unwrapping their Christmas presents with glee. Before she could wonder if it had all been a horrific nightmare, Neville Longbottom, current Headmaster of Hogwarts, sat down next to her and handed her a piece of paper.

"We got Lucius and a handful of his 'Death Eaters' carted off to Azkaban. Unfortunately, with Minister "Brownie" in place, Draco easily pled off as being under the Imperius, and didn't even get into the Courts. Once we'd done what we could, everyone came back here, and we decided to just pick up Christmas where it left off. That piece of paper is something that should allow any Underage Magic done in your household, allow you to purchase your kids wands whenever you feel like it, and allows you to teach them whatever you feel is necessary. You seem to have people after you for being a Potter, so I thought that Susan's Aunt would probably be able to help."

Ginny held the piece of paper tightly. "Thanks, Nev. How's Susan?"

Neville shrugged. "You can ask her yourself, in a minute. She's over there, talking to Hermione about the virtues of cloth diapers. Don't ask me, I don't know. By the way, what _did_ happen? The Aurors arrived to find all of you collapsed on the floor, unconscious."

Ginny smiled, and looked over at her children. James and Sirius were chasing each other around on toy broomsticks, Remus had stolen somebody's wand and was gleefully turning everything he could find, crimson, and Minnie and Lily were playing dress-up with hers and Hermione's old dress robes.

"Oh, what happened? Well, Nev," Ginny grinned up at her friend. "Harry's kids are great at causing trouble."

FIN


End file.
